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Rear Adm. Tom Druggan is commander of the 8-Division strong Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) HQ. He leads more than 18,000 scientists, engineers, technicians and support personnel located across the United States. A native of Lexington, Kentucky, Druggan is a 1989 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, and previously commanded the Aegis ballistic missile defense […]

The Port of Los Angeles is one of the busiest in the world, and presents unique security challenges. Maritime Security 2013 West is taking place in Long Beach, Calif., next to the adjacent ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Edward Lundquist photo

The Maritime Security 2013 West conference is currently being held in Long Beach, Calif., hosted by Homeland Security Outlook of Westport, Conn. Representatives are attending from academia, the private sector and federal, regional, state and local governments. Attendees came from as far as Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as the U.K., UAE, and Canada.

Giving the opening keynote address, Capt. James Jenkins, U.S. Coast Guard Sector Commander and Captain of the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach shared his challenges in overseeing America’s busiest container ports. “On any given day we have 10 to 20 ship arrivals, mostly container ships, but also tankers, bulk carriers, cruise ships and others. 4500 ships call here every year.”

It’s not only a big complex, with a large footprint and a significant amount of activity, but is also characterized by its density, Jenkins says. “There’s a lot of infrastructure in one place.”

“It shows the flexibility of the system,” says Jim Moore, director of radar systems for Terma North America. “You can connect any sensor anywhere you have commercial cellular coverage.”

“We have a high-level integration with the Terma radar using a cell phone hot spot. You can see the tracks,” says Shane Mason, program manager for enterprise solutions with SRI International. “It’s quite impressive.”

Maritime Security 2013 West Delivers Networking Opportunities

Rebecca Nagy says the event is valuable to her in her job as an intelligence analyst for the Los Angeles Police Department. “I get to meet various partners from different areas of the country that I wouldn’t meet otherwise. “

“Maritime security intelligence is such a small sector,” Nagy says. “It needs to expand”

Ken McAllister, CEO of Primal Technologies in Yakima, Wash., agrees. “We can hear how other people are addressing the same problems we’re dealing with. You find out where to go to get answers. It’s great networking, even just talking to the people at our table.”

Primal Technologies provides a situational awareness operating platform. McAllister says the conference helps him to better understand the problems other stakeholders are facing. It reminds him of an Easter egg hunt. “It helps to know what an Easter egg looks like.”